I entered Ludum Dare as usual but this time I set about creating a game using Java which I've been learning for a while but never really made a game for. So with this in mind, I set on with my game.
Due to real-life plans I ended up wasting most of my Saturday so by Sunday I didn't have enough progress on my game to get it finished for that day which resulted in me joining the jam instead.

I'll perhaps do a post-mortem later, there's a lot of things that I could have done better with and now I know what exactly I need to look into to prepare for the next Ludum Dare.

You can see the game here, http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-25/?action=preview&uid=4626.

Or direct link: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/23931032/LD25_IWanaBeTheVillain.jar
Applet: http://harrk.com/applets/LD25/

The applet is hosted on my site which soon will become my main site once I've finished developing it. It will replace this blog but it's not going to be finished for a little while so I'm still here for now!

I'm currently in the progress of polishing the game and I'm going to port it to Android with extra features. That's where my plans lie next for this project. 

Ludum Dare #24

I UGH! I CAN'T BELIEVE I JUST MADE IT IN TIME! In the last 20 minutes I was rushing to bug-test and fix everything I could. I made it with like 2 minutes to spare!

This won't beat my first entry from the last contest that's for sure, I slacked too much and I think I focused too much on story. There's really not much gameplay to it like I would have hoped for. Maybe in a sequel?
There's a few little mistakes (mainly typos) in the game still but nothing too bad I hope lol. First time I've made an ending to my own game where I've laughed my arse off.

Play here:
http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-24/?action=preview&uid=4626

Now excuse me while I come to terms with the fact that I just made a love story based on rabbits... WHY, HARRY, WHY?!

Ludum Dare #24

I've failed three game contests so far because I've failed to find the willpower and motivation to do it. Hopefully I can turn things around this time. I'm not aiming to beat my last result for Ludum Dare, I just want to make something without much pressure so I'm taking it easy.

Ludum Dare's theme this time is, "Evolution". I have a story laid out in my head and I'm just really keeping it simple. It's a love story between bunnies lol. Here's a preview: (I apologize for the Shakespeare :P)

Inactivity and Reactivity!

Woah, I've not been on here for a long while! (Honestly I got attached to Tumblr)

I've given up on my entry for the 64 Digits RPG competition since I have nothing to show and there's only ten days left, so yeah. No chance.
There have been too many irl issues which made it hard to continue working, anyhow, let's look at the bright side now, eh? :)

 I'm working on a new project with the goal of making it a commercial game, so far I have a few plans jotted out on paper with plenty of things still whizzing around in my head.
The goal of the game is to make it as customisable as possible, not a sandbox game like Minecraft though.
Of course it's going to be a RPG game but not as much story-driven like JRPG games although it will be based on the JRPG style. Heck, most of my games follow that sort of base albeit never getting released.

I suppose this will be a combination of JRPG and WRPG themes.

On another note, I really should focus on developing a battle engine I can reuse across multiple games. I find myself making a fresh one for each game and they don't exactly get done within a week.
That would cut my developing time down drastically for future projects that use the same idea.

Might build my own extension for the sake of making life easier and will probably release it to the public too. We'll see.

RPG Development - The Start

I've been slacking a lot but I've finally gotten to a point where I'm happy to show what I've got for my RPG game for the 64digits RPG game contest.
Everything in the screenshot below has been done in a slight rush so now I'll be going back over what I've done and clean up a little.
Then comes adding in reuseability then I'll start work on getting some story and gameplay into the game.

Meet Tirus, my main character for this project. The game is set in a futuristic world where the world is overpopulated and war has broken out (probably where we're heading?).
Space travel has been around for around 10 years and people have started moving on to populating other moons and planets, albeit very slowly. Plus only the people who can afford it managed to move on away from the current mayhem on the "currently unnamed planet".

The planet is suffering from its highest crime rate in history and the governments can no longer keep their people under control. There's just too many of them cramped into a small space.
Riots were growing in frequency until the governments of their respective countries decided to invade other countries in a bid for more space. Hence our world of war is born.

The world is now a tough place to live in and young and old need to know how to fend for themselves as they need to defend what little they have from thugs or from the marching tides of war.

Tirus is only 15 years old but he's one in a million. His intellect is superior for a boy of his age, as if an elder of the old had been born anew.
In order to survive in this day and age, Tirus and his friend - Knives, as he calls himself - take on dangerous jobs from unknown clients.
Tirus is no stranger to danger either, and neither is Knives. They will aim to kill if necessary and it's a skill that is required if you wish come out on top in these dangerous times.

During one of their jobs, they encounter a freelance armed force that pretty much hates every official in the world. In any case, they're taking matters in their own hands and now Tirus and Knives are in their way.

3 Month RPG Game Development Contest

The guys over at 64digits are hosting a 3 month RPG game development contest which started from today. I'll be entering this one and hopefully it'll motivate me to actually release a full fledged RPG game before long. I'm still brainstorming my story and everything else, but hopefully it won't be long till I have things to show!

Things will be busy this week due to my mum's funeral being prepared and things to sort out. I also have exams starting at the end of this month going into June. This competition will get my full attention after my exams though.

Competition Topic

Resources

I've added a new page on my blog for resources provided by me.
So far there's only one script (I'm working on it, okay?!) but I plan to add more such as graphics, more scripts, and whatever else.

All resources will be provided as public domain providing you don't go off claiming my works as your own. So feel free to use them in your games, including commercial ones.
I don't require credit either but it's always nice to have - and motivate me :). If you ever use anything of mine then send me a link to your game and I'll be happy to play it.

Finished my game for Ludum Dare #23

I've finished my game for the Ludum Dare #23 contest, the download link is here.

I'll post a follow-up after, I'm heading off to bed.

4~ Hours Progress

Changed things around so it’s night time and I’ve also spent the last 2 hours spriting my character (running animation was a pain!). Plus I made a very dodgy tree – I suck at trees, okay?!

LD #23 - 2 hours

Progress after 2 hours or so: A plain grass tileset and the start of what is the HUD for the game. I have yet to start on the player and the story but I have a few ideas flying around for it.

Ludum Dare #23

Ludum Dare is in 2 hours and I'm just currently experimenting with a couple of things in Game Maker 8.1 (The tool I'll be using for this contest).

I didn't fair well with the warmup Ludum Dare last week, I drew a few things and made a basic game but it had no goal or objective - simply plain and boring.

I'll be posting my progress for the jam on my blog as I go! :p

Mum.

I don't have the will to work on anything right now, my day has just gone from bad to worse.
Honestly, if I could have helped it, I didn't want to fill up this blog about personal issues as it's not what it's for, nor is this Facebook or the similar crap.

Anyway, my mum got diagnosed with cancer a few months back. Only treatment isn't working and today the doctor told us that they're going to build up her strength, bring her home, then let her live out the rest of it.

I don't care if I'm thinking straight or not right now. I'll think of what I'm going to do later, after I've rested.
My thoughts go out to my mum who is taking this harder than anyone, and of course my dad for being strong throughout the whole ordeal.

Grim, I know.
Something we all deal with in our lives is sadly losing our parent/parents, only in this case it's sooner rather than later.

Ludum Dare Warmup 23

I don't feel in much mood for doing anything else right now, so I decided I may as well try out the Ludum Dare Warmup weekend.

Theme: 8-bit role playing game with a steam punk theme.
Thanks to the random theme generator provided by someone over at Ludum Dare!


I couldn't ask for a better theme, although I don't think I can make a full RPG game within one weeken. Nor do I plan spending the full allotted time on this.

We'll see how it goes I guess.

Senra

Senra (as it was named) is now released, not as big as I planned it but it's complete nonetheless.
In the end it was done along to a 2 week game contest and there were many things I didn't get chance to include. Anyway I won't be working on a new-longer version of it, I'll be going with my own graphic style next time.

I felt I somewhat needed to announce Senra being complete as I want to announce a new project that I'm working on (a much bigger project), and it feels weird having 2 project announcements one after the other.
At least I can say I finished one! :P

My new project will be announced soon, once I have more to show as the engine is still under development.

In the mean time, here's a link to Senra: Download / Screenshots

New Project

This is a project that I started recently. Not sure where I'm going with it but I want to keep the graphics simple as possible, like what is shown in the screenshot below.
I just wanted to program something without having to spend hours on graphics and this is the result:

The Battle Room - Still under major WIP

The actual battle engine has still got a long way to go before it's complete. I could have used the battle engine that I've already developed for Monster, however the Monster engine is far more sophisticated and what I really want is a stream-lined version. So why not make a new one from scratch? I get a kick out of it anyway!

I got inspiration for the graphics from Legends of Yore, if you haven't played it yet then I suggest you try it out. The game is available on multiple platforms: PC, Mac, Android, and iPhone.

Anyway, back to my project!
I'm still working on the battle options interface and it's most likely going to change in someway (probably smaller?). And I also want to include some more animation to the menus to make things feel more responsive and appealing.
One of my ideas is to allow for the use of a game-pad, especially the 360 controller as I have one myself. It's not going to be implemented for a good while though yet.

Passing Time

I finally decided to put together a blog for myself, not sure if it'll serve much use.
Well, I'll write a little about myself I guess, then later I'll start putting this blog to good use.

I'm a hobbyist game developer and I've been working with Game Maker for around 4-5 years now. Recently I've dived into Java and Android development and I'm aiming to release a game on the Android market sometime this year.

I'll get around to announcing some of my current projects later, or maybe even a few tutorials if I feel like it.